The House of YAD - Writing w/ Stephen

“Jigga-who? Jigga-what?”

Learning to Question your Elephant Child

Having problems writing? I don’t know why.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll writes up to five columns a week. So, if he can write five columns, we should be able to write a five-lined poem with ease—but that does not always seem to be the case.

I have six humble serving men
They taught me all I knew
Their names are what
And where and when
And why and how and who.

Aside from this inspiration, I’m more than sure that two incentives for Jon Carroll are 1.) creating deadlines and 2.) his salary! (Yes, we writers DO get paid every now and then!)

Basing my philosophies of writing on those few lines of Kipling’s “The Elephant Child”, my advice is to “Simply Ask Questions”. Rummage through some of your old work, whether it be poetry, nonfiction, or fiction, and ask yourself the following questions.

WHAT is the underlying theme?

Try to come up with a single-word or short phrase to describe your story. Perhaps one reason your storytelling has not been effective in the past is because you have too many intertwining stories in one work. This can cause confusion for the reader. So ask yourself, “What is my story about?” Find answers such as: Desolation, Lost Hope, Self-Confidence, Racism, Attained Dreams, etc. If you can KISS (keep it simple stupid), then your writers won’t MISS your point.

As practice, read some of the great contemporary writers and ask yourself the same question—“What is the underlying theme?” Describe the book in one word or one phrase, instead of using a high school book-report technique.

WHERE does your story or poem take place?

Knowing the setting can allow you to be a bit more descriptive with your work. Does your poem or story take place in Alaska? Florida? China? Yugoslavia? Hawaii? Kentucky? Each of these places are, perhaps, equal opposites of the next. To know your setting you have two choices-- 1.) be a good researcher and collect pictures and read as much as you can about the location, or 2.) take a roadtrip! Nothing can be grander than spending your weekend visiting unknown territories.

WHEN did the events in your story or poem take place?

This is VITAL, especially if you’re doing factual reporting. For instance, if you read a news article, you want to know when Ms. Johnson’s house was burglarized. Did it happen June 20, 2001? June 20, 1984? Did the events take place in the heart of a Manitoba winter with ten inches of snow on the ground? Or was it in the heat and humidity of Virginia Beach in mid-August?

WHY did the events take place?

Is there a conflict within your character? A lot of times characters (and real people, for that matter) have problems only because their conscience is “eating them away”. Is this the case? What decisions has your character made to make him feel so guilty? Almost always, people cause their own mental downfall and breakdown. Even when the catalyzing event is caused by complete chance, your characters’ reactions and responses must have reasons behind them. Always know why your characters complete every task and why the events take place.

How did the events happen?

Maybe your character might say, “I had a car wreck today. . .” But, will you leave it at that? No, no, no. You must always tell how the events happened. Was your creation driving in the incorrect lane, but still feels it’s not his fault? Did he skid uncontrollably on a patch of ice? Maybe he drove through a Steinbeck novel and wanted to avoid the slow-moving tortoise that crossed his lane? If other characters are involved, it’s important to get their perspective in dialogue. Maybe they feel the events happened differently.

Who did the events happen to?

Whom your events happen to is one of the main focuses of a story or poem. You have to choose your characters carefully. Why? Maybe in the first draft, your main character is a 68-year-old cheerleader. Your work would be a completely different story if the character was an autistic adult. How would the events change if, let’s say, the main character was indeed the Elephant Child, child of the deceased Elephant Man? Be creative with your characters and allow their personalities to work for you when creating your piece.

Sometimes writers can use techniques that allow them to disregard some of these steps. Oh, really?—you question. Yes- at least on paper! For instance, a writer should know the intentions of a character, a location—but may not want to put it in print. My suggestion is that you KNOW all the answers to the above questions to make the work have more substance. By knowing all the answers you can create images, people, and scenarios by using symbols and customs of a particular area and writing characters who act with real human motivations.

Stephen E. Jordan, II is Editor/Publisher of OutStretch Publications; Financial Editor in Manhattan; and Poet. Article is available for reprint. Please notify the author. Copyright © 2001. www.OutStretch.net, Editor@OutStretch.net